Securing the Future
of Jewish Day Schools: A Community Approach
Simha and Sara Lainer
believed in big ideas, and they believed in Jewish education.
During their lifetime, they helped big ideas become real,
starting with their first gift to BJE in 1951 – a gift that continues to
benefit students, nearly 3 generations later. In many ways, Simha and Sara
Lainer embodied the phrase “it takes a village to raise a child” and dedicated
their philanthropic efforts to enhance Jewish educational opportunities; their
legacy is a commitment to ensuring a Jewish future by endowing Jewish day
school education in Los Angeles. The Lainer Family felt that the best way to
honor their parents was through a big idea, one that would transcend an
individual school or neighborhood, one that would enable schools to plan for
the future without compromising current needs. One that would help ensure that
families could rely on having access to quality Jewish education, regardless of
economic fluctuations. One that would place the long term economic future of Jewish
day schools in the top 25th percentile of independent and private
school peers in Los Angeles.
The Lainer Day School
Endowment Fund
In 2007, that big idea took shape as the Simha and Sara Lainer
Day School Endowment Fund: A community-wide, $100 million endowment initiative
to secure the future of day school education in Los Angeles - a joint project
of BJE and the Jewish Federation. A challenge to schools: begin working on your
own endowment – with an eye toward a combined total of $80 million in
school-based endowment funds. A challenge to the community: raise $20 million
in a central fund. The central fund would provide an incentive to
BJE-affiliated schools committed to growing endowment by earmarking funds on a 1:4 matching basis for new
endowment dollars raised, up to a maximum based on school budget size. With BJE
as a communal partner to provide training and assistance for school-based
efforts, and together with Federation helping secure community-based support,
the Lainer Family pledged to match, on a one-to-three basis, up to to $5
million. The Jewish Federation of Los Angeles also stepped up with a pledge of
$1 million. Within a short time, an initial investment of $4.25 million from
the community was on deposit. As is often the case, one big idea leads to
another.
Phase I: The Jim Joseph
High School Affordability Initiative
In September 2009, the Jim Joseph Foundation, in partnership
with BJE and the Jewish Federation of Los Angeles, kicked off Phase I of the
initiative in the form of the Jim Joseph Foundation High School Affordability
Initiative with a $12.7 million challenge grant for five Jewish high schools. The project challenges the five high schools to
raise $17 million towards their own endowment funds. There are immediate benefits to the
participating schools as well: by meeting a set of endowment benchmarks over a
six year period, each school will receive a portion of the $12.7 grant as operating
support to pay for development staff, training, and other resources, along with
funds to aid middle-income families in need of tuition assistance. The Jim
Joseph High Schools are the first to benefit from the Lainer Day School
Endowment Fund 1:4 matching program.
Jim Joseph High Schools:
Milken Community HighSchool
New Community JewishHigh School
Shalhevet High School
YULA Boys High School
YULA Girls High School
For more information
about the Jim Joseph High School Affordability Initiative,
contact Arlene Agress - 323-761-3398, or visit http://bjejjfgrant.org/.
Phase II: Generations LA
In 2011, BJE and the Partnership for Excellence in Jewish
Education (PEJE) helped to launch Phase
II of the endowment initiative, Generations LA, funded in large part by the AVI
CHAI Foundation and local Los Angeles donors, Rich and Wendy Kellner, Mark and
Ellie Lainer, Peter and Janine Lowy, and Alan and Sheila Spiwak. During the
three-year program, seven schools will receive professional, technical and
financial assistance toward reaching an endowment benchmark of $4,000 per
enrolled student in current and planned gifts as well as an annual cash grant
of over $17,000 for need-based tuition assistance. The seven Generations LA Schools will also be
eligible to benefit from the Lainer Day School Endowment Fund 1:4 matching
program.
Generations LA Schools:
Abraham Joshua Heschel Day School
Adat Ari El Labowe Family Day School
Cheder Menachem
Harkham Hillel Hebrew Academy
Pressman Academy of Temple Beth Am
Sinai Akiba Academy
Valley Beth Shalom Harold M. Schulweis Day School
For more information about Generations LA,
contact Rachel Kinkade - 323-761-8636.
It’s Bigger than You’ll Ever Know
Endowment is about strengthening the fabric of a school by
providing a permanent source of support that bolsters annual operating budgets,
allowing for programming and building enhancements, while also relieving pressure
of increasing financial aid costs. A
gift to an individual school’s endowment fund ensures that future generations
of Jewish children will benefit from the outstanding education that the school
provides while deepening and strengthening
student’s Jewish identity. Endowment resources help ensure that Jewish day
school education is not limited to only the wealthiest in our community.
Endowment is also about strengthening the fabric of our
community. A gift to the Lainer Day School Endowment Fund makes a strong
statement that securing a vibrant Jewish future through Jewish education is a
communal responsibility and benefits ALL day schools in Los Angeles that have
committed to growing their own endowments.
Whether at the individual school level or at the community
level, the commitment to endowing Jewish day schools in Los Angeles is a
commitment to endowing a Jewish future.
Do your part in ensuring strong, vibrant Jewish day schools
for our children’s children. Contact
Miriam Prum Hess - 323-761-8331 to leave your legacy.
BJE's Partners for Securing the Future of Jewish Day Schools
